Tax Sale Definitions

Tax Sale Information

The sales with which GUTS is assisting counties fall into 2 categories; Tax Sales and Certificate Sales.

Tax Sales are parcels that are offered at public auction because of delinquent taxes, penalties, special assessments, and/or tax sale costs.

Certificate Sales (also referred to as Commissioners’ Sales) are parcels that were previously offered at the county’s Tax Sale and did not sell, so the County Commissioners acquired a tax certificate, which means they are a lien holder, just as if they had been a purchaser at the Tax Sale. The Certificate Sale enables the county to offer the parcels for an amount less than the original Tax Sale minimum bid and it also provides for a shorter redemption period than the Tax Sale.

Different reports will be available, based on the various stages of the Tax Sale. The reports that list information about individual parcels are “dynamic”, which means the records on the report will change as circumstances change for that particular parcel. An example would be parcels that appear on the Advertising List. If the owner pays all of the delinquent taxes in the Treasurer’s office prior to the sale, then that parcel will no longer appear on the Advertising List.

Following is a brief description of each report that will be available for each County. Remember, not all reports appear for each county at the same time. The reports vary depending on the county’s stage in the Tax Sale process. These reports are best viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or later. You can download the Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking on the following link. Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Pre-Sale Reports –

Advertising List is a list of parcels that will be offered at the Tax Sale. The Minimum Bid is the minimum amount that can be accepted as a bid at the sale.

Information and Procedures is a guide to explain the conduct of the sale. It is NOT intended to be a comprehensive guide for a prospective tax sale buyer to know everything s/he should know about Tax Sales in Indiana. It is incumbent on the successful purchaser to understand all of her/his responsibilities as a tax sale buyer.

Bidder Registration Form is a form prospective bidders can fill out and fax prior to the sale. This form will also be available on the day of the sale and can be presented prior to the start of the auction.

Post-Sale Reports –

Bidder List is a list of bidders who registered for this year’s sale. The bidder number in the first column of this report corresponds to the bidder # in the last column of the Sold Items report. There may be some bidder number on this list that don’t appear on the Sold Items report. That means the bidder registered at the sale but did not purchase any items.

Sold Items is a list of parcels that were sold at the Tax Sale. The column labeled “Sale Amount” represents the price that was paid by the Tax Sale purchaser. The last column, labeled “Bidder #”, corresponds to the Bidder Number on the “Bidder List”.

County Lien Items is a list of parcels that were offered at the Tax Sale but did not sell, so the County Commissioners obtained a lien on the parcel.

Status List is a dynamic list that includes all parcels that were originally certified by the Treasurer as eligible for Tax Sale. As a parcel’s status changes, a new report will reflect that change. For example, if a parcel is sold and the taxpayer redeems her/his parcel, the status will change from “Sold” to “Owner Redeemed”.